Chapter 941: [Brotherly Bond] (Part 2)

Imperial mausoleum located 230 li southeast of Kangdu, situated at the foothills of Qixia Mountain. This place has superb feng shui, and is also the burial ground of generations of Dakang emperors. The surrounding mountains rise and fall, looking from afar like a chain of dragons linked head to tail. Here the Dakang people also call it Prostrate Dragon Ridge, named after its mountain shape.

When Hu Xiaotian arrived here it was already dusk. Hiding in the dense forest, he peered through gaps in the branches and saw that on the yellow earth grand road ahead, countless laborers were transporting stone and timber. Laborers kept collapsing from exhaustion, and immediately guards would rush forward, raising whips and clubs to beat them. Hu Xiaotian secretly sighed: the fortunes of Dakang have truly reached their end; the people cannot even fill their stomachs, yet they are forced to come here to build the imperial mausoleum. Once their endurance reaches its limit, an unpredictable storm will erupt.

Hu Xiaotian's sole purpose in coming here was to see Murong Feiyan. This area is all hills, with no fierce beasts about. He patted Xiao Hui's hindquarters and whispered, "Xiao Hui, wait here for me; I'll be right back." He had not summoned any helpers, because he did not want others to know about his meeting with Murong Feiyan.

Xiao Hui let out a loud snort, understood Hu Xiaotian's words, and walked unhurriedly to the grassland in the forest to graze.

Hu Xiaotian quietly removed his outer robe, changed into the prepared old clothes, and, under the cover of dusk, furtively joined the crew transporting stone. The workers placed logs beneath, pushing a stone block three zhang square up the slope; dozens pulled in front, dozens pushed from behind, moving the stone bit by bit by rolling the logs.

Two guards patrolled around the stone nonstop; seeing anyone slacking, they lashed out with a whip. One cursed, "These lowly scum won't work unless beaten; if they delay the schedule, the Emperor will blame us, and you'll all die."

The laborers' eyes practically blazed with fury; they clearly resented these brutal guards to the extreme. Because the scene was chaotic, with people constantly collapsing and being replaced, no one noticed Hu Xiaotian joining them.

At that moment, a frail middle-aged man beside Hu Xiaotian collapsed from exhaustion; as soon as he fell, a guard spotted him. The guard rushed forward like a fiend, whipped his lash down hard on the middle-aged man, and a figure lunged forward shouting, "Don't hit my father!"

Instead, a young man rushed forward in time to shield the middle-aged man; the guard's whip cracked—*pa! *—striking the youth's back, instantly tearing his clothes and exposing his muscles. A bloody red whip mark was shocking to see.

The guard shouted, "Damn it, you dare to block!" He raised his whip again and immediately lashed out a second strike.

Hu Xiaotian furrowed his brows; he really could not bear to watch any longer.

At that moment another guard rushed over, raising his wooden club to strike the father and son. The young man threw himself over his father regardless of danger; the later guard struck heavily, the club thudding against the youth's body with a bang. He seemed still not to have vented his fury, raising the club to aim for the youth's head. If that blow landed, the youth would at least end up with a broken head and blood flowing.

Just as Hu Xiaotian was about to step forward to stop it, a stout arm thrust out from the side, blocking the descending club with a crack; the club snapped in half.

The crowd looked over. See, a man in his thirties had timely blocked the club.

The guard cursed, "Damn it! Luo Shifeng, you, a mere stone mason, dare to meddle?" It turned out that this middle-aged man was the local stone-mason chief Luo Shifeng; because this huge rock was hard to transport, he and his crew of masons had also been summoned to help.

Luo Shifeng smiled apologetically, "Sir, this child doesn't know better; please don't hold a petty person's fault against him—there's no need to quarrel with him."

The guard snorted coldly, "Get lost! What are you? What qualifications do you have to speak in front of me? Dare to block me again, and believe it or not I'll have you all arrested."

A lazy voice drawled, "Sir, you might as well arrest us all—but if you do, who will haul this huge stone? Are you going to do it yourself?"

The crowd looked up and saw an ugly young man speaking—this was Hu Xiaotian after altering his appearance. He used inner force to reshape his facial muscles; though the surrounding people found him unfamiliar, everyone came from all directions, people died daily and new laborers were constantly replenished, so not recognizing him was normal.

The guard gripped the broken club, glaring ferociously at Hu Xiaotian, and snarled, "What are you now? Dare to meddle?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "I'm just a laborer; naturally I'm beneath your notice, Sir. Don't talk about arresting us all—even if you killed us all, we wouldn't dare resist. But doing so would surely delay the Emperor's project; when the Emperor flies into a rage and loses his head, it probably won't be just us."

Although the two guards were brutal, in wit and scheming they were no match for Hu Xiaotian. Hearing his words, they couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear; they weren't afraid of these laborers, but if they truly delayed the Emperor's project, they could absolutely not bear the responsibility.

At that moment a rider galloped over, apparently a minor chief by his attire, shouting from afar, "Why have you stopped? Do you think you can bear delaying the Emperor's project? Or do you no longer want your heads?"

The two guards hurriedly put on obsequious smiles, bowing and scraping in apology; but turning to the laborers, they wore a completely different face, snarling, "Get back to work, now!"

The crowd re-formed around the stone; Hu Xiaotian happened to be walking beside the stone mason Luo Shifeng, and as they exerted force together, Luo Shifeng whispered, "How should I address you, young brother?"

Hu Xiaotian replied, "Huo Yuanjia!"

Luo Shifeng said, "Brother Huo, you just stepped forward bravely—commendable courage—but these guards are ferocious; offend them and you'll surely come to no good end."

Hu Xiaotian said, "These people are all just fox borrowing tiger's might; if they have any real ability, why not go to the battlefield to kill enemies? Besides bullying us common folk, what else can they do?"

Luo Shifeng sighed, "Brother Huo speaks the truth; we commoners suffer too much."

The stone had slowly moved close to the worksite; as patrols of guards increased back and forth, Luo Shifeng worried about being seen talking, so he fell silent. Night gradually fell, bonfires were lit around the site, illuminating the whole area; they laboriously shifted for another hour before finally placing the stone in its designated spot. The laborers were all exhausted; Hu Xiaotian felt nothing special, he kept observing his surroundings, hoping to spot Murong Feiyan.

Because the schedule was tight, work would continue at night; these laborers were allowed to rest two shichen, then they went to eat. Throughout Dakang famine was rampant, and here was no exception. Hu Xiaotian gazed at the bowl of clear white rice porridge, even able to count the few grains inside, and inwardly sighed: under such harsh living conditions they still had to finish this grueling work; the plight of these workers was truly miserable.

The father and son who had just been beaten sat by the fire; the father handed his evening porridge to his son: "Chunsheng, eat!"

The young man called Chunsheng shook his head: "Father, I'm not hungry; you eat it!"

Luo Shifeng sighed, and the group all came to sit by the fire.

The young man Chunsheng whispered, "Master Luo, if we keep going like this we'll surely all die here; our village originally had sixty-seven people taken away, now only six remain alive."

The laborers all sighed and lamented, clearly having completely lost hope.

Luo Shifeng whispered, "Everyone, speak carefully; if word reaches those officials' ears, trouble will be great."

Chunsheng said, "I fear no trouble; staying here means either starving to death or working to death—either way it's death, so we might as well flee."

Luo Shifeng warily scanned the surroundings, spotting a guard observing them; he hurriedly warned everyone not to speak. Several lifted their bowls, pretending to drink porridge, waiting for the guard's attention to shift elsewhere before Luo Shifeng dared to speak, saying softly, "You make it sound easy—where would we flee to? All crows under heaven are equally black; nowhere is any different."

The crowd chorused, "Big Brother Luo, tell us what to do; we'll follow you."

Hu Xiaotian sat there listening, sensing that tonight's atmosphere was off; these laborers had been squeezed by the Dakang dynasty to the brink of collapse—only a spark was needed, and once someone lit it, a prairie fire would inevitably erupt, unstoppable; only by being among them could one truly feel the laborers' bone-deep hatred for the Dakang dynasty.

Luo Shifeng looked around again, lowering his voice: "A single person fleeing would surely die, but if we gather together it's another matter."

Hu Xiaotian's heart sank; Luo Shifeng was clearly inciting these laborers to rebel. Although Hu Xiaotian sympathized with them, his purpose in coming here was absolutely not to join a peasant uprising, but to find Murong Feiyan and rescue her from her predicament.

Someone said, "Master Luo, just lead us; rather than stay here awaiting death, let us carve a bloody path out ourselves."

Luo Shifeng then turned his gaze to Hu Xiaotian and said, "Brother Huo, why aren't you speaking?"

Hu Xiaotian knew that if he remained silent he would arouse suspicion; he sighed, "I also don't want to stay here awaiting death, but my elder brother is still here—if I fled, what would become of him?" He glanced around and added, "With so many well-trained guards, we simply cannot match them."

Luo Shifeng said, "We have tens of thousands, while they have only over a thousand; even if each of us spat, we could drown them."

The more Hu Xiaotian listened, the more alarmed he became; Luo Shifeng's rebel plotting was clearly not a matter of a day or two, and he hoped the day they had set for the uprising was not today.

Chunsheng said, "Master Luo, just give the word and I'll be the first to follow you!"

Luo Shifeng laughed, "I don't have that ability, but—"

At that moment a guard in the distance pointed at them and barked, "You! Come out!"

Everyone started; following the guard's pointing direction, all gazes locked onto Hu Xiaotian.

Second update uploaded—seeking monthly tickets! (To be continued... ^_^)